Most people don’t actually want to learn how to get in shape, even though that’s what they say. What they want is to become that person who is in shape. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s important to understand that these are two differing mentalities. Where more information will do wonders for the person who wants to learn, it will do fuckall for the person who just wants to be in shape.

If you want to learn, it’s largely an academic process of acquiring knowledge through school, books, seminars, mentors, etc. Most people don’t have the time, nor the inclination to put in that type of effort. They simply want to look better naked. If this is you, it’s a very experiential process. It’s not really about knowing exactly how many calories you need to consume or calculating your calorie burn for any given effort. It’s about what governs your emotions, routines, behaviors, and habits that really count. Change isn’t stimulated by acquiring more knowledge, but from transforming what you do day to day. Therefore, it comes down to creating new behaviors, which lead to new habits, which lead toward a path of who you want to become. 

To really change, it comes down to bringing awareness to your current situation. You can do this by incorporating daily practices that set you up to become the person you ultimately want to be. As an example, none of my weight-loss clients are conscious of how much they eat, nor how little they move. Not until I invite them to start a food log and track the amount of steps they get each day do they understand that the decisions they make are having an impact on their life. This awareness is the very foundation for change. More information about how nutrition or exercise never helped, but bringing attention to simple habits of what they’re eating and how much they’re moving starts the cascade for change.  So to change your life, you need to bring awareness to all that you do.